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J. HEATON 8v G. H. HOLDEN, APPARATUSAFOR THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL 0RIRON.

No. 501,139. Patented July 11, 1893.

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(No Model.)

' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. HEATON 811 G. H. HOLDEN. APPARATUS FOR THEMANUFACTURE OF STEEL 0R IRON.

No. 501,139. Patented July 11, 1893 awn/W Wimessea UNITED STATES PAT NTOFFICE.

JOHN HEATON AND GEORGE HENRY HOLDEN, OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL OR IRON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 501,139, dated July 11,1893.

Application filed March-1, 1892. Serial No. 423,424- (No model.)Patented in England May -7, 1890, No."7,070; in France March 1, 1891,No. 94,019; in Belgium March 5, 1891, No. 211,904; in Germany March 5,1891,No.10,873; in Luxemburg March 6, 1891, No. 1,416, and in CanadaSeptember 17, 1891, No. 37,421.

T at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JOHN HEATON and GEORGE HENRY HOLDEN, subjects ofthe Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Manchester, in thecounty of Lancaster, England, have invented Improvements in Apparatusfor the Manufacture of Steel or Iron,

' (said invention having been patented in the following foreigncountries: Great Britain, No.

[0 7,070, dated May 7, 1890; France, No. 9 1,019,

dated March 1, 1891; Belgium, No. 211,904,

dated March 5, 1891; Germany, No. 10,873,

dated March 5, 1891; Canada, No. 37,421,

dated September 17, 1891, and Luxemburg,

No. 1,416, dated March 6, 1891,) of which the following is aspecification.

In the specifications of British Letters Patent granted to one of us,viz., the said John Heaton, dated respectively March 17, 1866,

:o No. 798, and May 3, 1867, No. 1,295, there is described themanufacture of steel or ingot iron from east or pig iron by subjectingsuch iron when in a molten state to the action of nitrate of soda,nitrate of potash, chlorate of soda 2 5 or chlorate of potash. Now thepresent invention has reference to improvements in the machinery orapparatus employed in such manu-' facture as I will now proceed todescribe by reference to the accompanying drawings in Which- Figure 1 isa side view partly in sect1on of apparatus constructed according to this1nvention. Fig. 2 is avertical section in a plane at right angles toFig. 1 showing apart of 5 such apparatus. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectionthrough the complete apparatus.

a is a cupola furnace in which the cast or pig iron to be converted intosteel or ingot iron according to the process referred to, is

0 melted.

b is a measuring vessel into whicha desired quantity of molten metal isrun from the enpola furnace aby means of the spout c. This measuringvessel is formed to hold a certain 4 5 quantity of molten metal, and isprovided with a lid b which is closed after the molten metal has beenrun into the vessel 19.

d is a I-Ieaton converter of the well-known f (Figs. 5 and 6) providedwith wheels f capatype comprising a vertical cylindrical convertingchamber having a removable bottom and surmounted by a shaft or flue,these parts being lined with refractory material. The interior of themeasuring vessel communicates with the interior of this converter d bymeans of a lateral passage b capable 5 of being at times closed by meansof one or more suitable plugs or valves 19 that serves or serve to allowthe molten metal to flow from the measuring vessel into the converterand also to prevent sparks or flame from passing from the converter intothe measuring vessel while the converting operation is in progress. Atthe commencement of each shift or converting operation, the lowerportion at of the body of the converter d is or may be heated by anysuitable means, preferably by a suitable gas arrangement, to a low redheat in order to prevent undue lowering of the temperature of the moltenmetal during the converting operation so that the required uniformity ofproduction may be secured.

eis a vessel or chamber, hereinafter called. the lower portion of theconverter, employed to contain the charge of nitrate or chlorate. 7 5ofsoda or potash (hereinafter referred to as nitrate of soda) employedin carrying out the converting process. It is provided with trunnions eby which it is supportedupon a truck ble of running upon the rails g. Inorder to admit of its being readily and conveniently placed in positionbeneath the converter d, the truck f is run beneath the converter d andonto the table it of a hydraulic ram h, or other suitable means such forinstance as screws or levers, by which the'trnck f can be raised untilthe lower portion 6 of the converter carried thereby, comes in contactwith and into position beneath the converter d to which it is firmlysecured by suitable appliances such as clamps d as indicated in dottedlines in Fig. 1, so that should the hydrau lic ram h or other meansemployed, from any cause cease to support the lower portion 6 of theconverter, such lower portion of the converter will not become separatedfrom the upper part of the converter. The trunnions c admit of the lowerportion e of the converterbeing readily adapted to the converter (1.

In order that the charge of metal obtained by the converting operationmay be reheated to such a temperature as to effect the elimination ofthe gaseous and other impurities which remain incorporated with it atthe completion of the converting operation and to render the metalsufficiently fluid to be run into ingots, the lower portion a of theconverter after being removed from the upper part, is moved by its truckf along suitable rails g or in any other convenient manner to raisingand lowering mechanism such asthe table-v of a hydraulic rain j arrangedbelow an opening in the bottom of a reverberatory furnace Z. Thisfurnace is preferably of the regenerative type as shown,being incommunication with a gas producer on and provided with a passage 12 forsupply of air. With the construction described, when the truck f is andthe lower portion 6 of the converter low-.

ered and conveyed to any suitable point where its liquid contents arepoured into ingot molds orotherwise disposed of.

The upper end of the converter d may be in direct communication with theexternal atmosphere. In order however to recover certain usefulby-products which would otherwise escape from the upper part of theconverter during the converting operation, and be lost, it isadvantageous to connect the upperportion of the converter withcondensing apparatus as described in the specification of anotherapplication for Letters Patent filed by us of even date herewith,SerialNo. 423,426.

This condensing apparatus comprises a condensing tower 0 containingbrickwork arranged checker-wise after the manner of the brickwork in aSiemens regenerator, and into the lower end of which the gaseous orvaporous products of the converting operation are led for the purposementioned. For this purpose the lower end of the condensing tower isconnected to the upper part of the converter (1 by a vertical pipe 1), ahorizontal line q and a horizontal branch pipe 1* which isfitted with avalve 3 connected with a chain wheelt and by-means of which thecommunication between the converter and the flue q can be controlled.The upper part of the converter is also fitted with a valve it providedwith a chain wheel 1) for controlling the communication between theconverter and the external atmosphere. When the valve sis closed and thevalve a is opened, the gaseous or vaporous products of the convertingoperation will escape from the upper part of the converter into theatmosphere. It the valve u be closed and the valve 3 opened, the saidproducts will pass through the branchpipe r, flue q, and pipe 1) intothe bottom of the condensing tower o. In some cases, in order to assistthe condensing and collecting of the by-products, the condensing towermay be cooled by a shower of water admitted through a pipe 10, withdistributing branches. The water or other liquid or liquidsemployed incooling the gaseous or vaporous products, and which will dissolve agreat partof the valuable by-products therein, may be run off by a pipe00 and be afterward treated in any suitable manner for the recoverytherefrom of the by-products contained therein.

Steel or ingot iron ismanufactured in the above described apparatus as.follows :-The

pig-iron to be converted into steel or wrought iron is placed in thecupola furnacea and melted, and a portion of it is allowed to run alongthe spout 0 into the measuring vessel b. When a suliicient quantity ofpig-iron has been run from the cupola furnace into the measuring vessel,the supply of metal from the cupola furnace at is shut off. The lowerportion act the converter having been charged with the requisitequantity of nitrate of soda, is, by means of the truck f and rails g,run upon the table h which-is then raised until the upper edge of thelower portion 6 of the converter is brought into contact with the lowerend ofthe upper part of the converter (1 to which it is secured by meansof the clamps (P. The plug or valve b is then raised and the molten ironcontained in the measuring vessel 1) is allowed to flow into theconverter and to come into contact with the nitrate of soda therein bythe oxidizing action of which the cast iron is converted into steel oringot iron according to the quantity of nitrate of soda employed, asdescribed in the said prior British specification No. 1,295 of 1867.When the charge of cast iron in the lower portion 6 of the converterhasbeen converted into steel or ingot iron, the clamps b are removed orloosened, and the table h and lower portion a of the converter arelowered. The lower portion 6 of the converter is then removed to thereverberatory furnace Z where its contents are heated as in themannerand for the purpose hereinbefore described after which thepurified metal is poured into an ingot moldor otherwise treated. By theapparatus hereinbefore described, the process described in the saidprior British specification No. 1,295 of 1867 can be very readilycarried out with the employment of comparatively little manual labor.

In the preceding description the term ingot iron is used to denote ametal having a composition character and properties similar to those ofmetal ordinarily designated wroughtprocess, comprising a cupola, ameasuring iron.

What we claim is- 1. Apparatus for the manufacture of steel and iron bythe Heaton process, comprising a cupola, a converter having alowerremovable portion, a measuringvessel arranged between and adapted to beplaced in communication with said cupola and converter, a carrierwhereon the lower removable portion of said converter is mounted, meansfor raising andlowering said lower portion with its carrier to and fromthe upper portion of said converter, a reverberatory furnace havingianopening throughits lower side against which said lower portion of theconverter can be held, raising and lowering mechanism below saidfurnace, and a'suitable way arranged between said converter andreverberatory furnace and above said raising and lowering mechanism andwhereon said carrier can travel substantially as herein described forthe purposes specified. 1

2. The improved apparatus or plant for the manufacture of steel and ironby the Heaton vessel, a converter having a lower removable portion, awheeled truck whereon said lower portion is journaled, a hydraulic ramwith table harranged below said converter, a reverberatory furnace'lhaving an opening k through its lower side,a-hydraulic ram j with table1', and rails g, extending from said table it to said table 1', theseparts being arranged substantially as herein described for the-purposesspecified.

In testimony whereof we havesigned our names to this specification inthe presence of two subseribin g witnesses. 4

JOHN HEATON. GEORGE HENRY HOLDEN.

Manchester.

